Battle As Old As Time
by MarieCarro
Summary: Bella is a typical bad behaving teenager who's acting out and constantly gets into trouble, especially since she started hanging out with a new group of friends. However, her world is about to be turned upside down when one secret after the other is unveiled, amongst those that she is destined to be the most powerful witch of our time, and she's only got 6 weeks to learn everything
1. Chapter 1

****Penname:**** MarieCarro

 ** **Beta:**** Chandrakanta

 ** **Prereader:**** Kayla Cullen (FB name)

 ** **Title of Story:**** Battle as Old as Time

 ** **Rating:**** M

 ** **Pairing:**** Bella/Edward

 ** **Genre:**** Supernatural

 ** **Word Count:**** 15 330

 ** **Story Summary:**** Bella is the typical bad behaving teenager, or so she thinks, until it's revealed to her that not only is she adopted, she is also a witch, and apparently her destiny now awaits.

 ** **Standard Disclaimer:**** The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

 ** **BATTLE AS OLD AS TIME****

* * *

"This has been going on for too long. One more mishap like this, and I will have no choice but to suspend her."

 _Go ahead. I don't care._

"We've had some issues at home lately, but she's only acting out. Isabella is a good kid. She's just a little lost."

 _Just tell her what you really think of me, Dad; you think I am a spoiled brat._

"Maybe, but her behavior is affecting the other students. You either solve your family issues or I will request for Miss Swan to transfer to another school."

 _Please, do! Then I wouldn't have to deal with your shit anymore._

"We understand. We will talk with her immediately. We won't tolerate this either."

 _I rolled my eyes and slouched deeper into the uncomfortable blue plastic chair. My parents came through the door, and Dad tried to give me the I-am-very-disappointed-in-you-young-lady-look, but I wasn't falling for it. He only gave me that look to give the illusion of being a good parent and that he would only talk some sense into me. Not likely, though. Our fights never went anywhere and all we did was scream at each other._

They took turns shaking the principal's hand, or the Banshee as I liked to call her—she was certainly just as cold-hearted as one and her nasal voice could have been a high-pitched scream in my ear, so the nickname was fitting—and then Mom walked up to me and crouched down so that she could look into my eyes. "Bella, what's going on with you? Is there something you want to tell us?"

I rolled my eyes again and turned my head away from her.

Dad wasn't in the mood to play nice and grabbed my upper arm hard to pull me up from the chair.

"Charles, don't!" Mom cried out, but he didn't care. He was livid.

"What the hell, Isabella Marie! Where did you get the alcohol from, and why did you bring it to school?" he asked through clenched teeth.

I pulled my arm out of his grip and glared at him. "Don't fucking touch me!"

"Answer my question."

I crossed my arms and cocked my head defiantly. "Why do you care?"

Mom stepped in between us. "Not here, Charlie! We'll take this home." She looked around and smiled apologetically toward the receptionist, who was looking at the scene in front of her.

"Take a picture. It will last longer," I told her, but before I could see her reaction, I was pushed out of the office and toward the parking lot.

I walked angrily behind my parents with my arms still crossed and glared at their necks as they made their way to where they had parked their car.

"What are we going to do with you, Bella?" Mom mused to herself, and I didn't feel she was entitled to an answer, so I remained silent. When we reached the car, I refused to enter it immediately, and while Dad sat behind the wheel and tried to control his anger, Mom sighed and rolled her window down.

"Just get in the car."

I broke eye contact with her and looked down at my black boots and still refused to make a move.

"Please, Bella. We'll talk at home."

With an exasperated exhale, I flung the door of the backseat open and ducked inside. Dad didn't waste any time and drove off of the school premises as soon as the door was closed.

"I don't understand, honey. Why did you think it was a good idea to bring alcohol to school?" Mom asked, but I was sulking and didn't feel like answering. "Bella, answer me," she said sternly.

"Because I just did, okay!" I cried out and then continued quietly to myself, "It wasn't even my bottle."

"What was that?" Dad asked, but since he wasn't my favorite person in the world at the moment, I only glared at his neck.

"Nothing," I said and started to dig in my bag for my headphones. I'd had enough of them for the rest of the ride home.

"It's time to grow up, Isabella. You're eighteen years old, and when school ends, there will be responsibilities waiting for you," he continued.

"Sure," I answered noncommittally and proceeded to insert my ear buds.

Music by my favorite band started to play in my ears and I looked out of the window at the sky, which was beginning to go gray, and small droplets of water splashed on the glass.

When Dad stopped by a red light, a familiar car pulled up in the lane next to us and my eyes met the driver's. He smiled his beautiful smile and nodded toward the seat next to him.

I frowned, silently asking what it was he meant and in reply I got a raised eyebrow and a wink.

I understood then, and I also knew that I had to be really quick if it would work. I cast a small glance at my parents and neither of them had noticed anything yet, and so as fast as I possibly could, I threw the car door open and bolted outside.

"Bella?" I heard Mom ask, and a second later Dad yelled as well, but I had already rounded the car that was my destination, and the door of the passenger side was already open for me.

"Isabella, come back here this instant or you will regret it!"

I locked eyes with my dad for a second, and he seemed to dare me to enter the car, which I did without hesitating. As soon as the door closed, the lights switched to green and we sped away from there.

I threw my head back and laughed, rejoicing in my short and temporary freedom. I would still have to go home sometime tonight and meet my parents' wrath, but that was a problem for later.

When I couldn't see them in the rearview mirror any longer, I looked at my savior—his unruly dark hair and defined jawline—and the desire I always felt around him flared up.

"Thank you for saving me back there, baby," I said gratefully and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his head and took possession of my mouth for a few short seconds before releasing me to concentrate on the road again.

"No problem. I figured you needed it when I saw your parents' car in the parking lot. What did you do this time, Angel?"

"Ugh, one thing after the other led to them to finding Jimmy's bottle. I'm sorry, baby, I know you were supposed to give it to him on Friday."

"I'm sure it wasn't your fault. Jimmy will understand, and you will have a story to tell him at the party," he said and winked.

"You're sure?" I asked, not feeling completely reassured. "I mean, you know Banshee's been after me ever since I started in this stupid school, and if it hadn't been that bottle, it would have been something else."

"Probably, but Banshee's a bitch. She's always been, so don't think too much about it."

I looked down at my hands and started to rub them against each other agitatedly. "She threatened with suspension and a transfer. If she succeeds with finding enough dirt on me, I won't be allowed to graduate next year."

"Angel, it's only a month since you started your senior year. Do you really think you need to worry about that now?" He turned his head and looked at me with those mesmerizing eyes of his, and I instantly calmed down.

I smiled and sunk deeper into the comfy leather seat. "You're right," I agreed.

This guy was the center of my world. I would do anything for him, and I knew he would do the same for me. His name was Edward, and he was twenty-two years old, a criteria alone that made him forbidden according to my parents.

When I first laid eyes on him, he had been a senior at my school, and I had been a scared, flat-chested freshman. He hadn't taken any notice of me back then, and I hadn't dared to approach him because he'd had an aura of danger around him that scared me to the core, but at the same time, I couldn't stop thinking about him.

It didn't take long for me to become obsessed with being seen by him, and I tried everything, but to no avail because I didn't look like his type of girl back then.

I'd been rather mousy—gray and boring—but after crashing a senior party with my ex-best friend, Angela, I had found him, and the people he surrounded himself with, sitting on a couch in the corner. The girls around him had the same kind of dangerous aura, and I felt myself being pulled to them by an unseen force.

I had slowly made my way over there, completely ignoring Angela's pleas to leave. We had already been there for hours, and she wanted to go home.

She had grabbed my arm when we were just close enough for Edward and his friends to hear us.

"Bella, I want to go home now!"

Without hesitating, I had replied. "Go then. I'm staying." It had been the first step toward the demise of our friendship.

When I'd turned back around toward my goal, he was looking right at me, and our eyes locked. His had darkened and the girl next to him leaned over to whisper something in his ear.

I don't know what she whispered, but it caused him to stand and walk up to me. When he was close enough for me to actually smell him, my knees went weak, and he had to grab me so that I wouldn't fall to the floor. His smell was so intoxicating, and my heart was already beating a mile a minute because he saw me.

"Are you okay?" he had asked, and I silently nodded, too intimidated to talk. "Do you want to sit with us?"

My eyes had widened in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

He'd smiled in response. "Yeah."

I swallowed nervously but did my best to answer him as if it wasn't that big of a deal for me. "Um, sure. I'll sit with you."

Edward wrapped his arm around my shoulders and introduced me to his friends, and that was where I stayed the rest of the night. Not once did Edward let go of me, and it was the best night I ever had in my life up until that point.

That was also the night I truly began to change from the plain, mousy girl I had been my entire life. The girls of Edward's group started to invite me to hang with them. I got to borrow their clothes and found I was comfortable with the style. We went to concerts and I started my own collection of band t-shirts, but despite all of those good times, I always got the feeling that there was one part of the group's activities that I wasn't allowed to join, and it always happened in the middle of the night.

At first, I'd been worried that my new friends were into drugs or something like that, but when rumors began to circulate in the city that they were an occult sect of some kind and that I was their newest member, I started to worry about something darker instead.

Edward had somehow sensed my fears and assured me that they weren't doing anything illegal and that one day I would be allowed to join, but not right now.

To this day, I had not been invited to whatever they were doing, but I was pretty sure my new bestie Alice had, although she never spoke of it.

I didn't care so much about the rumors at first, but since all of my new friends, apart from Alice, were seniors, the past two and a half years had been rather lonely and filled with ridicule by my classmates.

Alice was the same age as me, but she transferred to my school months after the night that changed my life. I'd felt drawn to her the first day I saw her across the parking lot, and I hadn't been the only one. My entire group of friends had begun to talk excitedly when they saw her, including Edward.

There was a brief moment when I'd felt jealous that this new girl was stirring up so much emotion, especially since she got Edward so excited. But with his uncanny ability to know how I felt, he had leaned over and whispered, "You know you're the only girl for me." That had placated me, despite the fact that we didn't have any sort of romantic relationship back then.

When Alice walked up to us during the lunch break, I couldn't help comparing myself to her. She oozed confidence as she closed in on us, asked which one of us was Edward, introduced herself and that was that; she was in the group, and now we were the only two left.

Edward drove to our favorite spot—a secluded part of the local park. We always went there after school because we were never disturbed.

Edward placed the car in park before he turned to me. "Now, here there is no risk for traffic accidents, so I better get a proper hello and thank you," he said with a smirk.

I giggled and once again leaned forward to kiss him, and our lips joined in a passionate lip-lock that made my toes curl and my temperature rise.

One of Edward's hands snaked around my waist and the other loosely gripped around my throat to hold me in place, and my own went to his hair and grabbed fistfuls of those beautiful dark strands.

The short seconds we parted, our breaths mixed in the space between us, but we were in a very uncomfortable position, and my back screamed at me to do something about it.

"Edward, I can't—" I started, but his groan interrupted me. Our foreheads were still touching and our panting breaths were loud inside the confined space of the car.

"I know, you're not ready," he said quietly before he released me and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed. He was taking deep breaths through his nose to calm down, and the bulge in his jeans told me why.

I didn't want him to calm down though. I was ready to give myself to him, and I hoped the mood wasn't ruined now. "Edward, I am ready," I said, and his head whipped around toward me so fast I feared he would get whiplash. I just had to smile at his shocked expression. "I want to give myself to you. It was just that my spine was about to snap." I laughed quietly, and Edward's hand slowly came up to cup my cheek.

"Are you serious?"

I nodded, and Edward immediately began looking around for a solution that would work. He met my eyes and cocked his eyebrow. "Backseat's okay? It's a bit cold outside."

I smirked and gave him another kiss. "Backseat's perfect." My door was already opened before the sentence was completely out of my mouth, and Edward wasn't slow to follow.

Our kisses in the backseat were more frenzied than before, and I realized that it was because Edward had been holding back. He knew that I hadn't been ready, but now it was different. I wanted him so much, and knowing that he wanted me too, and that we were about to take that final step with our intimacy, turned me on to no end.

"Fuck, I'm so hot," I panted and felt so thankful when Edward helped me to shed my clothes. There was heat everywhere and it all seemed to emanate from Edward's mouth and skin. I didn't feel nervous at all to be with him despite the fact that I was a virgin. I had complete faith in Edward, and I knew that there was a chance it might hurt, but I was too horny to care about a few seconds of pain, when I knew I would feel so much pleasure by just being connected with this man that I loved so much.

With slight difficulty, Edward slid me underneath his own body so that I was lying down across the entire backseat. My chest heaved with my heavy breathing and Edward stared at my bra clad breasts with rapt fascination. While we had touched each other, pretty much all over, our clothes had always remained on, so this was new ground for us.

He looked into my eyes again and smirked before he pulled down the cup of my bra, exposing my breast in all its glory, and without hesitation, he covered my nipple with his hot mouth. It felt so good to feel it on my bare skin, and I arched into the sensation, wanting more.

I slid my hands underneath his t-shirt and pulled it over his head, demanding he show me more of himself. As soon as his torso was exposed, my eyes zeroed in on a tattoo of an inverted five-pointed star inside of a ring right over his heart, something I'd never seen before, and it caused me to stop.

"When did you get that?" I asked, and Edward froze his movements and looked down at the tattoo in question.

"Oh, I had it done two weeks ago. Why?"

I frowned. "I've just never seen it before, and it looks older than two weeks." In fact, it looked like it was years old and had always been a part of his skin.

He smirked at me. "I heal fast, but does it really matter? Weren't we in the middle of something more important?" He rolled his hips slowly against me, and a low moan erupted from my throat. The tattoo was immediately forgotten.

"Do that again," I demanded, and he did so. "Oh God."

"He's not here, but I am," Edward replied, and it caused me to laugh.

"Shut up!" I told him and pulled him down so that I could kiss him.

When the last of our clothes had been removed, and Edward started to part my legs so that he could settle between them, I suddenly got a strange feeling that I shouldn't do this, and not because I didn't want to. It was more as if there was some outer force that told me it was too dangerous.

It shook me up a bit, and I instinctively closed my legs a little bit. Edward noticed it, of course. "What's wrong?" he asked, but the feeling had gone away as suddenly as it had appeared and was replaced with a different feeling, one that told me this was exactly right.

I shook my head to clear it and looked into Edward's dark green eyes. "Nothing," I assured. He stroked my cheek softly and then pushed my legs apart again. With determined movements, he lined himself up before pushing inside agonizingly slow. "Uh, please, Edward, go faster," I moaned, and he complied with one quick thrust.

It felt slightly uncomfortable for a few seconds, but once I had adjusted to the intrusion of having him inside of me, a radiating warmth flowed through my body, but there was something else there, something dark, and it grew in size.

A part of me wanted to fight that feeling, but the other part embraced it, and that was the part I decided to listen to this time, because there was not a chance in hell I would stop this now. It felt too good, and I had waited for so long.

Our bodies became slick with sweat and the sound of our hips coming together rhythmically resounded through the small space of the car.

Edward pulled my hands above my head, interlaced our fingers and started to kiss my throat and collarbone.

All the sensations became too much for me, and I cried out when my lower muscles clenched around him. His thrusts became jerkier before he stilled and groaned deeply.

We hadn't used a condom, and I could feel his release inside of me. It made me feel like a part of him, and I reveled in the feeling.

Edward tucked me underneath his arm and I had my head on his chest while he stroked my hair. I felt so utterly safe and protected in his arms.

"Your parents are going to kill me when they realize I've corrupted the last pure thing in you," Edward said and chuckled.

I smiled against his skin. "I'd like to see them try. They'd have to go through me first."

Edward drove me home when it got dark, but when I saw that the lights were still on in the house, I felt reluctant to get out of the car. I knew that the fight I anticipated would be of epic proportions, and I also wasn't all too willing to be separated from Edward after our afternoon.

Still, I got out with a deep sigh, but procrastinated by rounding the car so that I was standing outside Edward's side. His window was rolled down, and I leaned forward to give him one last kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said with a grin when we parted.

"It's not soon enough," I replied, and it caused him to chuckle.

"I know," he said, and then revved the engine and drove away.

The flutter of the living room curtains caught the corner of my eye, and I knew I couldn't stall anymore. My parents knew I was home, and I had no choice but to go inside now.

I took one last deep breath to give myself some strength, and then started for the front door, which opened before I had put a foot on the first porch step.

In the doorway, Mom and Dad stood close to each other, but weren't really touching, and their expressions were surprisingly neutral. I had expected unspeakable wrath from both of them, but they didn't even appear angry.

"Isabella, join us in the living room," Dad ordered in an unusually calm voice. My suspicion skyrocketed, but I nodded anyway and followed them inside. Something was off. I could feel it in the air.

As I entered the living room, I noticed that Mom's wooden chest had been opened and the contents puzzled me. I had always believed it was filled with memorabilia and heirlooms—when I was just a kid, I had imagined it to be the entrance to a fairy tale world—but now I saw stacks of thick, leather-bound volumes, candles of all shapes and sizes, empty glass bottles, and vials filled with colored liquids. What freaked me out the most, though, were the two very sharp daggers that were attached to the lid. They were glinting in the dim light of the room, and a surge of fear went through me when I wondered what was going on, and what my parents had planned with that chest.

"Honey?" Mom said and I looked over at her with wide eyes. "Come and sit." She patted the seat on our plush gray couch next to her, and I slowly did what she said.

"What's going on?" I asked, and the slight tremor in my voice revealed how worried I felt. They were both just so serious, and my eyes continually went back to the chest. "What's with the chest?"

Mom looked down at her hands. "Charlie and I have something to tell you, and we need you to enter this conversation with an open mind. It won't be easy for you to hear, but it's time. We can't put it off any longer."

I frowned and felt my pulse quicken. "What are you talking about?"

She looked back up at me. "I am talking about you and your destiny."

"My destiny?" I asked, and I was even more confused then I'd been the second before. "What destiny? To reach graduation so that I can go to college?" My attempt at a joke fell flat, and I looked between my parents. I didn't understand what Mom was saying at all.

She shook her head. "No, it's something quite different from that." She turned and looked at Dad, but all he did was nod with the same serious expression as she wore.

"Honey," Mom started again. "Firstly, you need to know that your father and I..." She struggled with the words and appeared to be rather distressed. "We, uh...we are not your birth parents."

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"

Mom grabbed my hands in hers and squeezed, but I was too stunned to react. "We were assigned to raise you when your biological parents passed away. You were just a baby when it happened, and it was agreed that you needed to grow up in a safe home so that when the time came, the choice you have to make wouldn't be as difficult."

I stared at Mom and couldn't comprehend what she was babbling about. "I don't understand. What _choice_?" I was slowly getting angry, like I always did when there was something that was disconcerting me. In this case, it was my parents' vague way of explaining their weird notion of them not being my parents. "What do you mean _'assigned?'_ What the fuck are you talking about? _You_ are my parents," I exclaimed as my voice built in volume in time with my growing anger.

Dad shook his head, and my eyes flew to him. "No, we're not. We're your Protectors."

"Huh?"

Mom sighed. "Charlie, how are we going to explain it? She's so young still. Will she be able to handle it?"

"She has to. We only have six and a half weeks until she _has_ to be ready."

"Ready for what?" I still felt very angry, and it didn't help that they talked about me as if I wasn't there, but my anger was slowly withdrawing and gave room for panic to grow instead.

Dad met my eyes steadily, but the longer he waited to answer me, the more blurry he became, and I realized it was because my eyes had teared up. It was my body's first reaction to the panic attack I was about to have.

"To choose between good and evil," he finally said, and I was shocked into silence for a few seconds. When I felt my voice coming back to me I couldn't help the laugh that erupted.

"Okay, how many glasses of wine did you drink after dinner?" I asked with my laughter still evident in my voice, but the tears in my eyes remained because I was still terrified.

"He's not making a joke, Bella," Mom said, and I stood up from the couch and began pacing in front of them when my distress became too much for me to sit still anymore.

"Yes, he is, because if he's not, that means he's serious, and I don't know how to handle that." My laughter faded and my breathing became irregular as I stared at Dad. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you descend from two long lines of powerful witches."

I stopped my pacing and alternated between looking at Dad and looking at Mom. Neither of them appeared to be joking, and it caused me to explode.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Are you crazy?" I screamed at them. "How can you say something like that?"

Dad didn't even blink as I screamed at him, and he remained uncharacteristically calm. "Because it's the truth, Isabella. Your birth parents were witches, and you are one as well. It was time for you to find out."

He was slowly blurring out of sight, and I bent over and gasped for breath. My hands were clutching at my chest, and I tried to get as much air down my lungs as black spots began to appear in my vision. I knew I was hyperventilating, and that it didn't help the panic attack, but I couldn't calm down and control it. In just a few seconds, I would pass out.

Suddenly, Mom stood next to me with a paper bag in her hand that she handed to me. "Here," she said. "Just take slow and easy breaths."

I placed the bag over my mouth and did as she told me, and she continued to calm me down by stroking my back.

Eventually, my heart rate slowed down, and the black spots disappeared, but the feelings remained.

I was sitting on the couch again, leaning against Mom's shoulder, but I had no memory of her leading me there. Dad wasn't in the room anymore, and I wondered where he had gone.

"I don't believe you," I said, but Mom only answered by stroking my hair away from my face and humming a melody that echoed vague familiarity in my head.

"That song...I recognize it," I mumbled.

"It's the lullaby your mother used to sing to you when you cried as a baby," she replied, and I froze up.

"Stop that! _You_ are my mother!"

My tears started to fall from my eyes and Mom looked at me sympathetically and wiped them away with her fingers. "I'm sorry, Bella, but I'm not. Only on a spiritual level, and you need to accept that in order to embrace your destiny."

I hit her hand away from my face. I didn't want her to touch me anymore because it hurt too much. "I don't want my stupid destiny if it means I have to lose you!"

"You won't lose me, Bella," she said reassuringly. "I will always be here for you."

I couldn't stop crying, and Mom opened up her arms for me. At that moment, I didn't care about the million fights we'd had over the years, I just had to be close to her and feel her comforting warmth, so I crawled up beside her and let her hug me to her chest like she had done so many times when I was younger.

"Why is this happening?" I asked against the skin of her throat.

"Because it was decided that you had to know after you'd turned eighteen. If your parents had been alive today, you probably would have found out sooner."

I sniffled and tried to calm down, but it took a long time for me to get my breath back to normal.

"What happened to them?" There were a gazillion questions in my head, but that was one of the things I had to know now. Why did they die?

"Do you really want to know? Do you think you can handle it?"

I shrugged. "Maybe not, but I have to know."

Mom sighed. "They were killed by Evil Witches who were after you."

I straightened up and frowned. "Me? Why did they want me? You said I was just a baby when they died."

Mom nodded. "Yes, but you see, there's this centuries old prophecy about a double blessed baby descended from two powerful families that was to be born in the middle of the harvest moon cycle. This baby would become one of the most powerful witches our world has ever seen. However, the powers would be so great that it couldn't be determined if they would be claimed for good or for evil. That choice would be up to the baby after maturity had been reached and it was all to take place on All Hallows' Eve after its eighteenth year."

"What is All Hallows' Eve?"

Mom smiled. "It's the original name for Halloween. That holiday is about so much more than trick-or-treating and collecting candy in plastic jack-o-lantern or pumpkin buckets. For witches, it's the most sacred holiday of all because the barrier between our world and the spirit world is at its weakest, and it makes it possible to tap into the power and knowledge of our ancestors."

I was fascinated by what she told me, and wondered briefly if this was the reason why I was so in love with Halloween. I could remember how a former friend from elementary school had once asked me why I was always so excited for Halloween, but I had never been able to explain it.

The prophecy didn't leave my head, though. "What does the prophecy have to do with me, though?" I believe I already knew, but I was still clutching at any straw of grass at that point.

Mom stroke my cheek lovingly. "Bella, you are the baby in the prophecy. That was why they wanted you. They killed your parents in hopes of taking you with them and raising you in evil. They didn't expect you to have such fierce protection spells cast around you, and before they figured out how to get to you, Charlie and I stopped them," she finished, and I felt oddly drained.

"And now you've raised me to choose good instead of evil," I stated. "Didn't the prophecy say that it was a choice I had to make?"

Mom nodded. "Yes, it is, which is why Charlie and I haven't raised you in either good or evil."

I felt so confused already, but I had to ask anyway. "What do you mean? You took me from Evil, so you must be Good, right?"

"Well, that's another thing you need to know. Charlie and I are not really married. Both of us are Witches of the Old, which means we are Originals. We have retired our powers and ceased to age in order to direct and protect witches new to the craft. Charlie is an Evil Original and I am a Good, which was why it was decided that we would raise you on neutral grounds until you came of age. We haven't inclined you in either way. The choice of which side you'll take still lies with you."

"So Dad is actually evil? Like, for real, evil?" I asked, and Mom smiled a small smile.

"We don't have our powers any more, but our inclination does not depend on what kind of magic we perform. It's the core of who we are as people and witches. Charlie is evil, but I can assure you that everything he has done toward you has been for your protection only."

"What will happen after I've chosen?" I asked, but I felt scared to know the answer.

Mom cocked her head to the side and gazed at me tenderly. "It depends on which side you choose. Either way, you will become a leader, and those underneath you will follow the new order of life."

I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them tighter. "I'm not much of a leader," I mumbled quietly, but she heard me.

"I believe you have many qualities inside of you that are just waiting to come out. Don't doubt yourself, honey. You're destined for great things."

I decided to let that go, because she didn't understand. I had never been a leader, and I never could be. I was a follower. I needed guidance, and without it, I was lost. What kind of leader could I ever be if I couldn't lead?

"Were my parents good or evil?" There was no end to my questions, and this one I felt could possibly help me with the choice I had to make in only six weeks.

Mom shook her head. "I'm not allowed to say. It can affect your choice too much. It has to be your choice alone."

I threw my arms into the air in frustration and glared at her. "And how exactly am I supposed to choose?"

She gestured to the wooden chest. "The chest belonged to your parents. It has been passed down through generations in your family, and now it belongs to you. In it, you'll find everything you need for rituals, spells, potions, a few crystals, and of course, the daggers. From this night and up until All Hallows' Eve, Charlie and I are going to teach you everything about the craft. When the night is upon us, hopefully, you will feel where your heart lies."

"Hopefully," I mumbled, and then a thought occurred to me. "By the way, where is Dad?"

"He felt that I would be able to explain this to you in the best way. You know how he is. He became too impatient when you almost fainted."

I rolled my eyes at that. It was classic my dad, and it felt good to know now that he was that cold not because he didn't care about me, but because he was evil.

"Well, this certainly explains a whole lot."

I thought back on my day and couldn't help but to laugh. It was surreal. I had been threatened with suspension, given my virginity to my boyfriend in the backseat of his car, and found out I was adopted and a witch. I couldn't exactly say that happened every day in a teenager's life.

"What's funny?" Mom asked.

"This day and night started out so very normal, and now all of a sudden, everything's changed. It's a lot to take in, but I guess I always sensed I was different." The truth rang strong in my words as soon as I said them. I had never truly fit in anywhere until I found Edward and his friends, and even then I had felt just slightly out of place. Not as much as usual, but there was still a lingering feeling of it.

Mom nodded. "Yeah, and about that, there's one more thing, and I know you won't like it."

I was instantly on guard and waited for what she would say.

"I'm afraid you have to stop seeing Edward for a while."

I paled and all of my blood disappeared from my head. "Excuse me, what?" I asked for confirmation even though I'd heard exactly what she said.

"I'm sorry, honey, but you have so much to learn and six weeks isn't very long. You can't afford any distractions at all during this time. Charlie is going to call your school tomorrow and pull you out of it with the excuse that we will homeschool you until we know what to do about what happened today, and we'll move to the summer cabin where you can practice uninterrupted."

"You mean I am going to be stuck in the cabin for six weeks without friends and no boyfriend? That's crazy! I can't just abandon everyone! They'll wonder where I am," I insisted.

Mom shrugged. "I'm sorry, but it's the way it has to be."

"No!" I disagreed. "I won't do that, and especially not toward Edward. Not after tonight," I blurted out, again without thinking.

Mom frowned. "What was so special about tonight?"

I bit my tongue and just gaped at her. It didn't matter that I'd just found out she was more my mentor than my mother, it was still awkward to tell her about my sex life. "Uh..." I just couldn't get the words out.

"Bella, it's me. You can tell me anything."

I hesitated but decided to just do it. How angry could she really become over something so simple as the fact that I wasn't a virgin anymore? "I gave myself to Edward."

Mom's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"Edward and I had sex earlier today."

"Did you use protection?" I felt a bit confused, because while I understood her concern, I can't say that was the first question I expected to get from her after my revelation.

"Um, why?"

"Just answer me."

I swallowed as I suddenly felt very ashamed. "No, we didn't. It wasn't planned. It just sort of happened."

I saw anger in Mom's eyes, but it wasn't directed toward me. She stood up and walked to the base of the stairs while mumbling something that sounded like: "Not planned, my ass." I had never heard her curse like that before, so I thought I must have imagined it.

"Charles! Come down here this very second," she yelled, and it was obvious she meant business.

Dad descended the stairs intentionally slow. "What are you screaming for, Renée?"

"Oh, I don't know," she replied sarcastically. "How about I just found out that one of yours has tainted Bella."

Dad looked skeptical. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Edward."

As soon as I heard his name, I stood up and walked up to my parents. "Look, he didn't taint me," I tried. "I was a willing participant. I initiated it."

"Are you saying that you had unprotected sex with Edward tonight?" Dad asked, and it felt creepily strange that his reaction was actually amused. Not at all what you expected from your father.

"Yes," I simply answered and the smirk I'd seen the hint of broke out on his face.

"Well, I didn't think that boy had it in him," he said and sat down in his chair.

"This is not funny, Charlie! You know what this means!" Mom continued to scream.

"Just chill, Renée. I'm sure everything will be fine."

Mom refused to calm down. "For you it will because that boy has made her more inclined to evil now! I tolerated it with her friends because they never did anything, but Edward went too far!"

I didn't understand what they were talking about at all, but it was starting to freak me out. "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked as calmly as I could, and both of them turned to me. "How can I be more inclined toward evil by having sex with Edward?"

Mom sighed. "Bella, I didn't want to have to tell you this, but after what you just told me, I have no choice." She paused to grab both of my hands in hers and squeezed them lovingly, but this time I pulled away from her. I didn't like what she was saying, and until she told me the truth, I wasn't going to play nice and pretend it didn't bother me that she talked about my boyfriend like that.

"Edward is an Evil Witch. By having unprotected sex with him tonight, you made yourself vulnerable, and when the act was completed, he released dark magic inside you. Not much, but enough for your choice to be swayed."

I stopped her right there. "Hold on. Did you just say that Edward's an Evil Witch?"

She nodded. "Yes."

I looked over at Dad and hoped that he would laugh and tell me that Mom was lying, but he didn't. He only shrugged, and a sudden dryness in my mouth had me swallowing repeatedly. My throat constricted and I had to gasp for air again.

"But how? I don't-I mean, he's...and I...but we..." I couldn't form a real sentence, and my thoughts were just as jumbled up. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't.

Mom placed her hands on my upper arms and rubbed them up and down, but the heat created by the friction did nothing for the cold I felt inside. "I know it's difficult to hear, and as I said, I didn't want to tell you because I know how you feel about him, but after this betrayal I had no choice."

I didn't want to hear it. If I thought that it had been too much for me to grasp that I was a witch myself, it was nothing compared to how I felt right now. I started to cry silently, but my tears had no effect on Dad. He snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, Renée! You're taking it a bit too far by labeling it as a betrayal. The other witches didn't make the same promise that the Originals did. I'm positive that if Edward had been a Good Witch, he would have done the same thing then as well."

Mom twirled around on the spot and glared at Dad. "No, he wouldn't because Good Witches do not commit such dishonest actions. They may not have given the same promise you and I made, but the prophecy clearly says that Bella has to choose for herself without outer influences. Good Witches have honored it, so why can't Evil Witches do the same?"

Dad rolled his eyes again and laughed. "Because they're evil," he said as if it was the most obvious thing, and I guess for him, it was.

My tears refused to stop falling because I suddenly felt very insecure about everything. Were Edward's feelings for me true? Did he ever mean a single word that came out of his mouth? Or was it all a plot from the very beginning?

"Has Edward always known who I am?" I asked in a small voice that barely carried, and my tears didn't exactly help.

"Probably," Dad answered. "Witches recognize each other by their powers. It's an air around them that has a certain taste to it. Edward must have sensed that you are an Undecided, and since you are the only Undecided alive at the moment, it can't have been too hard for him to figure it out."

I thought about the aura of danger I'd felt around Edward from the beginning—a taste I still felt—but I had always explained it as part of his image. Apparently, it was deeper than that.

A bitter taste erupted on my tongue, and I knew it was the taste of betrayal. I wiped away the tears from my cheeks, but they were soon replaced by more. "So he _has_ been manipulating me this entire time?"

Dad shrugged as if none of this was of a particularly big deal. "Depends on how you look at it. Evil Witches can only manipulate those with evil already residing in them. It's the way we keep balance in the world; to only have control over the equal-minded. He wouldn't have been able to get as far as he has if you hadn't let him."

I believe Dad's words were meant to soothe, but they did nothing for me.

"But now when I have his dark magic inside me, won't it be easier for him, then?"

"A little bit, yeah."

I turned to Mom. "Is that why I need to break up with him?"

"I never said that you have to break up with him," Mom said. "You just have to keep your distance for the upcoming six weeks. Once you've chosen, the answer will be inside you."

I felt very down, all of a sudden, and nodded forlornly. I was exhausted and my body was still aching after my afternoon with my, apparently, evil boyfriend. It was a reminder I could have done without, at the moment.

"I think I need to go to bed," I said tiredly, and both of them agreed. I started up the stairs, but Dad stopped me.

"You should pack before you go to sleep. We'll leave for the cabin before lunch tomorrow, so you'd better be ready by then," he threatened mildly. I nodded and smiled weakly. Whatever had changed in my life tonight, my parents still pretty much remained the same. I just had to wrap my head around the fact that they weren't truly my parents.

Once in my room, I closed the door and threw myself backward on my bed. My body bounced up and down with the mattress slightly as I stared at the ceiling. It didn't give me any answers, but I continued to stare at it as if the solution to everything would come dimpling down if I focused hard enough.

"Hey, are you all right?" I heard from the window, and I had to hold in the scream that threatened to bubble up before I saw that it was Edward. He was just climbing through as if nothing had changed, but then again, he didn't know I had just found out that both of us were witches.

I sat up and turned away from him. "What are you doing here?" I asked with the hurt I felt all too evident in my voice. I couldn't understand how he could have manipulated me so thoroughly without blinking. I thought he loved me as much as I loved him.

Edward sat down next to me and leaned in for a kiss, but I pulled away, and it caused him to frown. "I didn't want to be away from you. I couldn't wait 'til tomorrow," he said softly, and normally, words like that would have melted me, and I would have done whatever he wanted to, but I was starting to feel pissed off.

How dare he play so innocent? Did he take me for a fool? He must have known that I would find out eventually, and what then? Or had he hoped to have gotten enough dark magic inside me so that when the time came, I wouldn't care anymore?

I stood up and walked to my vanity without even looking at him. I grabbed my hairbrush and started to go through the tangles of the day. They were worse than normal because of our afternoon in Edward's car.

"Angel, what's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked. His voice was filled with concern, but I couldn't trust that it was real, so I gave him the silent treatment and continued to ignore him and brushing my hair.

He walked up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders before tracing down my bare arms with his fingertips. Goosebumps appeared on my skin, and when he leaned in to nuzzle my neck, I shivered violently. He knew exactly how that always caused tingles all over my body, and I realized that he was manipulating me again, so that I would forget my anger and forgive him.

"Is this about this afternoon? Do you regret it?" he whispered, and I felt his warm, moist breath against my ear. He placed a light kiss right behind it, and my anger seemed to just melt away as my eyes closed on their own accord. It didn't help that I knew what he was doing. My breathing still picked up and my brush fell from my grip. Everything he did to me just felt too good.

"Stop," I whimpered weakly.

He didn't and used his nose to trace my jawline. "What was that, Angel?" His hands traced over my back and encircled my waist before one hand started to fiddle with the button in my skirt.

"Please, stop," I tried again, but my resolve was weak. A part of me badly wanted him to continue, but I was unsure if it was because _I_ wanted it or if he was controlling me.

"Why?" he asked softly. "I can feel that you want to. You're practically shaking with desire." When my skirt was opened, he touched the skin on my stomach, just above the line of my underwear, with the tip of his index finger. It was when he made the move to go inside the lace that the fog in my head dissipated. With strength I never knew I had, I pulled his hands away from me and I used my body to push him backward and away.

The action must have shocked him because he stumbled and fell back onto my bed. "Bella?" he asked, bewildered, but I wasn't accepting his act any longer.

"Oh, just drop the act, Edward," I said harshly and re-buttoned my skirt. "Stop pretending, okay! I _know_." I stood in front of him with my hands on my hips and stared him down.

"You know what?" he asked, and I felt the urge to slap him.

"I know about you—what you are, and what I am—so stop!"

Understanding glinted in his eyes, and his expression changed from confused innocence to one of mischief, and a small smirk stretched across his face. "You know, huh?" he asked, and I nodded. "Well, it was bound to happen sometime." He shrugged and sat up straighter. "Too bad it happened directly after our first time together. It would be nice to have you a couple more times, but I guess that would be unfair to the Goodies."

Suddenly, I could see it clearly. I had been so blinded by love that I hadn't seen it before. Edward wasn't a good guy, and he never had been. Everyone in school thought of him as a "bad boy," but no one really understood how true it was. That image of his wasn't an act. He was really bad.

It didn't stop me from loving him, though.

However, at the moment, I was too angry, and the clarity of everything had me narrowing my eyes at him. "Shut up, Edward," I said, but it only caused him to laugh. "How could you do this?" I asked, and my eyes filled up once again with treacherous tears. I couldn't keep up with how much I'd been crying tonight. "I thought I meant something to you," I continued quietly.

The laughter died out, and he stood up so that he towered over me. "Angel, you do mean something to me," he said with a serious expression. "You mean _everything_ to me. The fact that I'm evil does _not_ change my feelings."

I shook my head and swallowed my tears to gain some strength in my voice. "What feelings? All you've done is manipulate me so that you could infect me with your dark magic and make me choose your side."

He stroked my cheek, but I hit his hand away. "Can you blame me, though?"

I couldn't, because the truth is that he _is_ evil. "No, I can't. But I can't just let it pass, either, and, from now on, I want you to leave me alone." It hurt a lot to have to say those words because my feelings for him were still very real.

I walked to my window in order to put some distance between us, but Edward wasn't about to go down without a fight. He followed me, and I was sure he knew that my judgment always got clouded when he was too close. "I wouldn't have been able to get this close to you without your permission. Evil can't manipulate good. You were already partial to evil the night I met you at that party."

I couldn't help myself and scoffed. "I think it was the dangerous vibe you give off that pulled me to you. I was far from evil back then. I was practically a Miss Goody Two Shoes when we met, but you've slowly changed me, haven't you?"

I turned around to him, and he shrugged. "That was the plan at first, but I didn't really need to do anything. As I said, you were already partial to evil that night. Everyone could feel it as soon as you walked into that house."

I frowned. "Everyone?" It took me a second to understand what he was talking about, and when I did my eyes widened. "Are you saying that all of our friends are witches as well?" As stupid as it might seem, that thought had never occurred to me.

Edward nodded. "Yes. We're all in the same coven. Alice was born into a different one, but her initiation was quick."

I almost choked when he said that. "Alice, too?" I should have realized that. She was welcomed into our group of friends without a second thought, after all. "Are there Good Witches at our school as well?" I asked and wondered how many witches there really were out there.

Once again, Edward nodded. "Yes, but they're different from us. Their covens are usually not as tight knit. They spread out, and hang with mortals a lot. Your freshman friend, Angela, is one, but she wasn't strong enough to keep you."

Had I been surrounded by only witches my entire life? Had I ever interacted with normal human beings, or _mortals_ , as Edward called them? I didn't want to go any deeper into who was a witch. It freaked me out too much right now.

All the new information I was acquiring was making me very tired, and I sank down on my bed and let my head rest in my hands. This day would cause for some seriously strange dreams tonight.

Edward sat down next to me, but to his credit, he didn't try to touch me this time.

"Why?" I asked and turned my head to look at him. "Why did you have to put me through all of this? Was it some kind of sick thrill for you?"

He shook his head. "No, that's not it at all."

"Then what was it?" I raised my voice as I got more upset. "Why did you make me fall in love with you?"

He stared at me for a long while in silence, but then he must have decided that he couldn't stand for not touching me any longer because he slid down on the floor in front of me, and pulled me forward so that I was straddling him. He placed one hand loosely around my throat, but I wasn't afraid that he would hurt me. This was something he'd always done, and while I thought it was strange in the beginning, now I enjoyed his touch so much, it squeezed my insides in an almost painful pleasure.

"I couldn't help myself," he murmured. "I tried to keep you at a distance at first, but you just kept pulling me in. The original plan was only to seduce you. Make you more inclined to us, but that was it. Me developing feelings for you was never supposed to be a part of that." He sighed and let his hand fall away. "But, I'm not lying when I say that I love you. You're my Angel."

I swallowed but remained silent for another few seconds. There was too much insecurity in me, and he was slowly weaseling his way back inside.

I looked down and started playing with a piece of his shirt. "Don't say things like that to me, Edward. You know the prophecy. I have to make the choice alone."

He placed his hand underneath my chin and made me look at him. His eyes were completely sincere and the most vibrant green I had ever seen. "It doesn't mean I won't try to persuade you. I _need_ you to choose my side. I can't lose you now."

"You won't lose me," I started, but he immediately shook his head.

"If you choose Good, I will. Good and Evil are not supposed to be together because they can't cooperate."

"Renée and Charlie are," I insisted.

"Barely," he said. "You've lived with them your entire life. You know they can barely be in the same room without going at each other's throats. It's the natural way of things; a never-ending battle. Their promise as Originals is the only thing keeping them together." Edward used the pad of his thumb to trace over my lips. "I don't want us to become like that."

Steps in the stairs alerted us that someone was coming. We immediately parted and stood up so that Edward could climb back out of the window. Neither of my parents would be okay with his presence in my room.

He was only half-way through when he turned back to me. "We still have six weeks left. Can't we just enjoy it while it lasts?"

"Please, don't talk like that, Edward," I said desperately. "I don't want to think about goodbyes."

"This doesn't have to be goodbye," he insisted.

I hesitated to tell him the truth, but I had to. "They pulled me out of school. We're leaving tomorrow to live somewhere else until its time. I need to learn the craft without distractions before I choose."

He frowned and looked just as desperate as I felt. "Where? I can visit you there without them noticing. We've done it before."

I wanted to tell him, but while I hated that this was potentially the goodbye I didn't want to have, I knew that it was the only thing to do. I had no idea what I would choose in six weeks time, and it was no use in preventing what was possibly inevitable, so I shook my head. "I'm sorry," I said, and it tore at my heart.

I started to close my window and Edward had to climb all the way through, but he was not ready to let go. He placed his hand on the glass to keep it open. "Angel, wait! Please, tell me! I can't bear it if this is the last time I see you."

I could hear that it was Charlie that was outside in the hall, and I knew I had to act quickly. I opened the window just a fraction wider and leaned outside. "If you really do love me, this will lead you to me," I said and kissed him. There were sparks emanating from my lips and the wind swirled around us before once again calming down when we parted.

"I will find you," Edward promised before climbing down the tree outside my window, and I closed it and turned around just in time for my bedroom door to open.

Charlie was standing there and frowned. "I heard voices. Is there someone in here?"

I shook my head and tried to look innocent. "No, I'm all alone."

He narrowed his eyes, obviously not fooled by my act. "I can feel a residue of Evil, so don't lie to me, Isabella. Has Edward been here?"

I knew there was no use in denying it, and so I sighed and slumped my shoulders. "Yes. I was just saying goodbye to him."

"Be careful, Isabella," he warned. "The boy and I might be on the same side, but the repercussions of his actions will haunt him. He's not allowed to go against the prophecy as much as he is, and there will be consequences."

With that, he was about to close the door again and leave, but he had gotten me worried.

"What kind of consequences?"

He looked at me with a very serious expression. "The magical community will not simply accept everything if they find out that he influenced your choice too much. We have strict rules against that sort of thing. Rules that have been broken in the past, but breaking them has resulted in nothing but destruction and pain for those involved."

All of the blood drained from my face as I thought of what Charlie's words could mean. I might not just lose Edward as my boyfriend. Was it possible that he could lose his life in the process? I didn't even want to imagine something like that.

"You should pack," Charlie said to remind me of his earlier words, and then he left me standing there feeling lightheaded and scared of the future.

I ignored Charlie's parting words and I fell back onto my bed. I was completely exhausted and I was asleep in mere seconds.

 **¤¤ToT¤¤**

With a swipe of my hand, I watched in fascination as the sprout began to rapidly grow until the flower bloomed.

"Perfect, Sweetie! You're really getting a handle on controlling Earth now," Renée praised me, and I beamed at her, but Charlie made an impatient sound behind us which caused my smile to fall, and I looked over my shoulder at him. He was standing with his arms crossed and an unimpressed expression.

"Yes, she does learn quickly, therefore, you can't keep her at this level, Renée. You've wasted two weeks on basic things that children learn before they begin school."

Renée glared at him. "I believe you forget that Bella hasn't practiced any magic at all up until two weeks ago. We can't rush her. You know how dangerous that could be!"

"It's not dangerous for her. She's more powerful than other witches. She will be able to handle the surge of power," Charlie insisted, and I sighed while studying my flower instead of listening to my mentors fighting.

"And if she doesn't? What will you do then, Charlie? How are you going to explain that you caused the most powerful witch of all time to go mad?"

I rolled my eyes and stroked the petals of the flower, but that caused the plant to burst into flames with a puff and it burned to ash within seconds. I'd noticed that sort of thing always happened when I got frustrated with my teachers. My magic always reversed itself or changed when they fought about me as if I weren't right next to them. I couldn't completely control fire yet, and the mischievous element loved to ruin my progress when it felt my discipline waver.

"You should teach her to write spells and create potions!" Charlie continued.

"How can she create her own when she hasn't been able to perfect an already existing recipe? Her powers are only just manifesting, and she's doing great. Give her some praise, for God's sake!"

Their fighting had gotten worse since we moved to the cabin, and I could now understand what Edward had meant. Good and Evil couldn't and wouldn't cooperate.

When that had truly dawned on me, I had almost chosen Evil then and there, because as the hormonal teenager I was, I didn't want to lose my boyfriend, but I came to my senses and realized I had to base my choice on something more than that.

I decided I didn't want to be close to the fighting anymore, and so I stood up from the couch and went to my chest. I dug out one of the many ritual books and took it with me to my room to read.

I flipped through the pages but stopped when I saw a symbol I recognized. It was the five-pointed star Edward had tattooed over his heart.

I skimmed over most of the text as it was mostly about its history and why it was believed by mortals that it was a symbol for satanism, but at the very end, one paragraph caught my eye.

 _To Evil Witches, the inverted pentagram is a representation of "Black magic," symbolizing the triumph of matter and individual desires over religious dogma; the choice to pursue individual glory or immortality rather than union or absorption with the divine._

 _During Rituals, Evil Witches focus on the physical elements-flatus, ignus, aqua, and terra-while most often ignoring the element of divine energy._

It couldn't get much clearer than that. Even if I didn't have Edward's confession of being an Evil Witch, the representational symbol of black magic tattooed on his chest would pretty much have convinced me.

I continued to flip through the pages with a hint of frustration now, but stopped short when I came across a spell I hadn't seen before.

A spell to summon a spirit guide.

It took me barely a second to decide that I would try it. I was truly in desperate need of some guidance, and since I didn't get it from my constantly fighting mentors, I had to be creative.

I didn't waste any time and ran out of the room to my new supply closet down the hall, and the voices of Renée and Charlie rose from the living room. They were still fighting, but they had moved on to a different topic now. It appeared they were clearing the air of everything that had annoyed them during the past seventeen years of acting as my parents, and I rolled my eyes.

If I hadn't known they weren't married, they sure could have fooled me.

I grabbed what I needed and ran back into my room, where I made sure to lock the door so that I wouldn't be disturbed. Then I placed six candles on the floor in a ring, and I kneeled inside of it before lighting them up.

The book was open in front of me, and when I had memorized the words, I closed my eyes and cleared my mind.

 _Spirit Guide from the other side_

 _Hear these words, heed my cry_

 _Come to me who call you near_

 _Show yourself bright and clear_

I felt the power as it surged out of me, and a light breeze made me open my eyes. In front of me stood a tall and handsome man who smiled widely at me.

"I was wondering when you would find that spell and summon me," he said with a smirk, and all I could do was stare.

"It worked?" I asked no one, and the man laughed.

"Obviously. I am here. So, Bella, what can I help you with."

I exhaled hard and stood up. "I don't know how I'm going to be able to choose a side. I know it should be up to me, but this sucks. Can't I just remain with both?"

My guide took one of my hands and began to trace the deeper lines in my palm with the tip of his finger. While he was solid, his touch didn't feel human. It felt like the softest caress of a feather. "I don't think you have realized it, Bella, but you made your choice a long time ago all by yourself. It's already within you. All you have to do is listen to your heart. It's the only thing that can't lie to you."

I shook my head. "But all my heart wants is Edward."

"Yes, and?" my guide questioned, and I frowned.

"Doesn't that mean that I have to choose Evil?"

He smiled. "And would that be such a bad thing?"

I gaped at him. "Well, isn't Good supposed to conquer and win everything? It says so in all the stories."

"In fairy tales, perhaps, but the real world is different, Bella. Everything is not in black and white, but there always has to be a balance. Just look at the world. A rapist murderer kills a young woman on the streets of Vegas, but at the same time, a volunteer saves the life of a young child in Asia that is meant to do great things in the future. It's simply the way of life."

"Won't there be an unbalance once I've chosen sides? If my powers are so great, how can it be fair that one side only gets to claim them?"

My guide agreed with me. "It's not fair, but as I said, where there is evil, there always has to be good. If one side acquires too much power, it will be evened out in one way or the other."

A calm settled over me, and I brought one of the candles up to my face.

"I release you," I said and blew the flame out. My guide gave me one last smile before he faded away. "Thank you," I called out into the empty room when he was gone, and a soft breeze against my cheek told me he'd heard me.

I collected my things and went to put them back in my supply closet.

It was quiet in the house, so I guessed Renée and Charlie had finally stopped fighting, but that meant they must also have realized that I was no longer with them downstairs.

I had barely finished the thought when my name was called from below.

"Isabella?" Charlie called, and for once, it didn't sound like he was going to yell at me, so I made my way downstairs.

As soon as they spotted me, Charlie walked over and placed his hand on my back. "Come with me to the basement. I am going to teach you some real magic." Renée crossed her arms and pouted like a petulant child at his words.

I stepped away from Charlie and looked at them both apologetically. "Actually, I think I'm going to go to the kitchen and practice my potion making." I started to walk there but turned back around when I heard them follow me. "Alone," I said, and they frowned in confusion simultaneously. "All this frustrated energy you two have between each other doesn't have a great impact on my powers."

I started to move toward the kitchen again while they stood frozen with stunned expressions. I don't think either of them had expected that, but I really needed to be alone. If what I had been able to do up in my room was any indication, I worked best when I was alone.

I ended up staying in the kitchen the entire night, and I wasn't disturbed once, which felt absolutely great.

However, around midnight there was a noise outside that caused me to stop with the potion I was currently making. I looked toward the window, but I could only see the darkness outside. I felt on edge and strained to hear any other noise to confirm that there truly was something outside in the garden.

When I didn't hear anything, I grabbed the jar of rosemary and proceeded with the potion. It said that I only needed a pinch of the herb so I took care to measure it into my hand first.

A sudden knock on the door caused me to startle and the rosemary in my hand fell into the potion, which exploded. I crouched down and took cover with a startled scream.

"Bella?" I heard Renée call from upstairs.

"I'm fine!" I called back and straightened out. I tried to wave the smoke away with my hand, but it didn't do much.

I looked toward the door and saw a chuckling Edward standing outside. When he saw that he'd gotten my attention, he waved, and I hurried to unlock and let him in.

"Edward? What are you doing here?" I asked.

He smiled widely and placed a hand on the side of my neck. "I told you I would find you," he said, and the sound of his voice did things to me. My mouth went dry and I had to wet my lips before replying. Of course, this drew his attention to my mouth, and he began leaning in to kiss me.

I inhaled sharply and took a step back. "Yes, you did, but _how_ did you find me? Charlie told me there are no records of this cabin connected to us."

"Your spell led me here," he simply said, and I looked at him questioningly.

" _My_ spell? What spell?"

He chuckled. "You don't even realize you cast it, do you?"

I crossed my arms over my chest in an attempt to protect myself from the magic of his laugh. "No, I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."

Edward walked to the stove and peeked at the failed potion in the pot and wrinkled his nose when the foul smell invaded it. He appeared so at ease, a habit he'd always possessed, and something I used to envy him for. He simply didn't care that he wasn't allowed to be here. "Angel, you have a lot of power inside you. When you kissed me in your bedroom and said that it would lead me to you if I truly loved you, you cast your very first spell."

My arms fell to my sides limply as I thought back to the moment he was talking about. I remembered the sparks I'd felt on my lips and the breeze that had swirled around us. Had I caused that?

He walked up to me and placed his hands on my waist. "You cast a _Promise Spell._ I wouldn't have found you if I didn't love you. Even if I'd come here, this place would have looked empty to me if my feelings for you weren't true."

I felt warmth envelope me from his words, and I wished that they could have solved everything. Then I would have thrown my arms around his neck and kissed him with everything I had. But despite the guidance I had received, and the fact that I had apparently already chosen, I wasn't any closer to knowing what it was I wanted apart from being with the man that stood before me. It still did not feel right to choose Evil for that reason alone.

I shrugged helplessly. "And what do you want me to do with that knowledge, Edward? I still have to make a choice in four weeks."

His warm smile fell and he nodded solemnly. "I know. I was hoping that me being here would help you."

I couldn't restrain myself any longer and I placed my hands on his chest. His heart was beating steadily and for some reason it made my eyes well up. "How? All you do is make me more confused." I rested my forehead against him for a second before stepping out of his hold and went to pour the failed potion in the sink.

"Why is that?"

"Because when you are close, the only thing I want is to get this over with. Choose Evil and be done with it, but I can't choose Evil just because of you."

As always, Edward didn't really care about my lame attempt to put distance between us, because he could feel the pull just as much as I did, but while I tried to fight it, he listened to it. It was like an electric current and it sparked when he came closer and stood behind me.

"Would it really only be because of me, though? You feel a pull toward Evil. Admit it, Angel."

My skin tingled at his words, and I turned around to look at him. He was so close, we were practically flush against each other. "I'm not afraid to admit that, but I can't trust that pull either, because I don't know if it's me or if it's the part of _your_ magic that I have inside me."

Edward's eyes darkened at the mention of his magic inside me, and my mind was suddenly filled with images of that afternoon in the back of his car.

My own lust flared up and tried to come up with anything to steer the conversation in a different direction, or I wouldn't exactly stop Edward if he decided to begin ravishing me right here in the kitchen.

"There is also this part inside of me that says I can't choose Evil because I'm supposed to be Good."

Edward closed his eyes and took a few breaths in the same way he used to do before we had sex the first time. It was his way of pushing away his own lust and get back to the present. When he felt in control again, he opened his eyes and shrugged. "That's just your heritage speaking," he said, and I froze.

"What did you say?" I asked barely audible.

"Your heritage. Don't you know?" He frowned. "Haven't Renée or Charlie told you?"

"Told me what?"

He looked at me incredulously. "The reason that you are so powerful is because you are half of each. A double blessed baby, like the prophecy said. Your mother's bloodline was one of only Evil Witches, and your father's was one of only Good. Usually, Witches marry mortals in order to procreate, but your relatives were an extraordinary family tree of pure magic."

I soaked up every word like a sponge because this was the first time I was told anything about my ancestors.

"Your mother, Marie Sinclair, was to be married to another Evil Witch and continue the purity of the family tree, but she met your dad, Nicholas Alistair, and they fell in love." Edward took a hold of my hands and enveloped them with his own. "Do you remember what I told you about Good and Evil not being able to cooperate?" he asked, and I nodded silently. "That's not the only reason that they can't be together. It goes against the laws of our society and is a crime punishable with death."

My heart was pounding loudly in my ears, but I could still hear Edward's every word.

"Your parents broke the law and eloped. There was a bounty on both of them, but they practically vanished. No one could find them for years, and it wasn't until after they were located that it was understood why. They gave up their powers to be together and it wasn't until the day you were born that they could be traced again. Your powers alone put them back on the map."

Sadness gripped me, and I understood why Renée didn't want to tell me much about my parents. It was my fault they were killed, but there was something else, too. I remembered how she had specifically said that my parents were killed by Evil Witches. This had caused me to assume that my parents had both been Good, but this new revelation put everything in a new light.

"Are you telling me that my mother was killed by her own kind?" I asked with despair slowly growing inside of me. Edward hesitated, and I was afraid he didn't want to tell me the rest. I _needed_ to know. "Please, tell me," I pleaded.

He finally answered me after an excruciating minute of silence. "It was an accident. The Witches that found them had planned to only capture them and bring them back to The Council, but they both refused and things got ugly. A curse that was meant for your father took your mother when she jumped in front of it to protect him. Your father was so blinded by rage he didn't care that he had no powers and tried to fight back. The next curse hit him in the chest."

It made me feel uneasy that Edward knew what had happened in detail, and I just had to ask him about it. "You're talking about it as if you were there. How can you know so many details?"

An expression I had never seen on Edward's face before contorted his beautiful features. He was uncomfortable and I was afraid to find out why. "I wasn't there," he said. "But my father was."

I was completely speechless. There was not a single word I could get out, and so I ended up only staring at Edward.

"Bella?"

A sudden rage exploded inside me and I harshly pushed away from the counter and began pacing the length of the kitchen. "You've _known_ the entire time. Ever since the day we met, you've known that your father was the cause for me not knowing who I am most of my life. How is that fair?"

"It's not fair," Edward said with a stoic expression.

"You're damn right it's not fair!" I walked up to him again. "How could you keep this from me? For fuck's sake, Edward, didn't you think I deserved to know this tiny little detail?"

He grabbed both of my upper arms in a hard grip, but it wasn't painful, so I knew it wasn't to hurt me. "I haven't exactly had the chance to tell you before now. Two weeks ago, you still thought that Renée and Charlie were your parents, so how could I have told you then? And tonight is the first time I've seen you since you found out that you're a Witch."

I removed his hands from me with force. I felt hurt and betrayed, and I wasn't ready to let go of my anger just yet. The anger felt good. It made me feel stronger than when I cried.

I couldn't look at him anymore and turned around, but stood fast on my spot in front of him. I heard his breathing behind me and how it slowed as he controlled his own anger. "I think you should go," I said sadly. "You're not supposed to be here. People may get angry if they think you're influencing my choice too much."

Edward frowned. "Then let them get angry. I don't care, Angel."

"But I do," I insisted. "These are the same people that will expect things of me after All Hallows Eve, and I don't want to let them down."

He nodded, but before he left, he gave me another kiss. "Just in case," he said, and I knew what he meant.

He wanted one last kiss if this meant the end. The thing was that I still didn't know. I rubbed my face in frustration and then turned off the lights in the kitchen and went to bed.

 **¤¤ToT¤¤**

Sweat beaded on my forehead as I concentrated. The design had to be perfect, and I wouldn't stop until I was totally pleased.

It had been a heavy task to hollow out the huge orange fruit, but it kept me distracted, which was exactly what I was aiming for.

Finally, the pumpkin was sporting the classic laughing grin and I smiled at my creation as I wiped my sweaty hair out of my face with the back of my hand. I wanted to place it by the front door, but I was sticky and sweaty, so I decided to take a shower first, and also change into my gorgeous new dress—according to Renée, it was a tradition to dress up to the nines for a claiming—before doing so. I left the kitchen and went back upstairs to fetch a towel and then locked myself into the only bathroom in the cabin, which was opposite the living room, underneath the stairs.

The shower was absolutely what I needed, and I stayed under the spray just a few minutes longer than necessary to stall the inevitable just a bit. The time was drawing closer. I could feel it.

I re-dressed in my sweats and tank-top so that I could go to my room and change, but before I had the chance to climb the stairs, I felt a sharp pain in my midsection that I could only compare to the feeling of being stabbed with something very sharp. I lost my grip on the railing and fell down on the floor, my arms clutching my stomach. I couldn't breathe, but Renée must have heard me fall because she came running just a few seconds later.

"Bella?" She crouched down next to me and called for Charlie. "Oh goodness! Charlie, it's happening!"

She placed an arm around me to help me stand up and led me to the couch so I could lie down.

Charlie came up from the basement and looked at me with confusion written all over his face. "Now? But it's too early," he stated.

Renée turned to him with a glare. "Her powers don't seem to agree with you, so are you just going to stand there or are you gonna help?" she threw at him, but I couldn't have them fighting now. It felt as if I was dying and their fighting was seriously annoying.

I grabbed Renée's arm and she turned to me. "Don't...fight! _Help_...me!" It took everything I had to muster up the strength to get those few words out.

Both of them immediately got into action and Renée ran upstairs while Charlie grabbed the book with the claiming spell from the shelf.

Renée came back with a copper pot filled with dried herbs which she lit on fire. Then she brought out the dagger she had placed in the lining of her pants and grabbed my hand. With a quick motion, she sliced my hand open, but instead of dripping my blood into the pot like I expected, she took a handful of the burning herbs and placed them in my palm over the bleeding wound. There was no heat that could burn me and the slice didn't even sting.

Charlie joined us and held the book open to the section with the spell in front of me. I didn't know what he wanted me to do, and I had started to shake so badly, I couldn't form the words to ask either.

Renée took my bleeding, herb-filled hand and pressed it, palm down, against the pages of the book.

"You have to choose now, Bella," she said. "There is no more time."

I was out of time, and I had no idea what to choose. I wasn't ready for it, but I had to be. Completely terrified, I looked at both spells.

Neither of them seemed to call more for me than the other because I didn't want to be either good or evil. I felt comfortable with both as they were each a half of me, and I just couldn't choose.

The spells didn't differentiate too much from each other, and after I memorized them both, I created a new spell by mashing them together in my head. I wasn't going to settle for one side if I could possibly have both.

I had already performed near impossible magic. Maybe I could do it again.

With new determination, I closed my eyes and let my choice fill me up from my toes to the top of my head.

 _On this day, on this hour, I call for Ancient Power_

 _Good and Evil reside in me,_

 _Give me both and set me free_

"Bella, what are you doing?" Renée asked and tried to remove my hand from the book, but I held onto it tightly.

 _Let my powers rise,_

 _Let it been seen through my eyes_

"She's calling for both sides," Charlie exclaimed, but he didn't try to stop me.

"But that's unheard of," Renée cried out.

 _Hear it in my voice,_

 _This is my choice!_

There was a whirlwind around me that threw both Renée and Charlie backward as if it was protecting me, and I could feel how my strength came back to me. The pain disappeared and I felt filled with energy.

When it reached its peak, it took my breath away and I gasped for it until the whirlwind faded away and I could breathe normally again.

"Wow," I said to myself when I understood it was over. I could feel the power, both good and evil, course through me.

Charlie and Renée looked at me with wide, wary eyes and waited as if they expected me to do or say something.

"What?" I asked.

Renée blinked. "Uh..." She swallowed and tried again. "How are you feeling?"

I gave her a pleased smile. "I feel great. Better than great, actually."

"Isabella, what you just did has never been done before," Charlie said from his spot on the floor.

I turned my attention to him. "Yes, and?"

"And we don't know what this means. You're the first witch ever to claim power from both sides."

I shrugged because I already knew this. " _I_ know what it means," I said confidently.

"You do?" Renée asked.

I nodded. "Yes, it means everything is not divided between good and evil. You said yourself that my destiny is to lead witches into the new age. _This_ is the new age. And none of those old _stupid_ rules apply to me."

Charlie and Renée were speechless as I turned around and left the room. There was only one person I wanted to meet right now, and I took my phone out of my pocket to call him. I wasn't going to text this time. I needed to hear his voice. It had been too long since the last time because he had left us alone after we said goodbye.

Only three rings went through before I heard him in my ear.

"Angel?"

* * *

 *** This story had some content updated in April 2017**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I have good news for you! :-D

I have decided to continue this story, and I have started to write a longer version, but it will probably be a while until I start posting chapters for it, but when I do, I will let this stay a one-shot and I will post the multi-chap as a separate story for those who want to read a longer version :)

If you want to make sure you don't miss it when I begin posting, make sure to put me on your alert list, and I will see you soon! ;-)

Kisses!

MarieCarro


End file.
